THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 10, 1995 TAG: 9511100445
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
The owner of the 52-foot sailboat abandoned in an Atlantic storm Wednesday after he and six others were rescued is making plans to find his vessel and bring it home.
``If it's still afloat, we'll find it,'' said, Stanley Rubenzaho, 65, a benefits consultant from Stanford, Conn., who has owned the ``Night Sound'' for four years.
Meanwhile, said Rubenzaho, he cannot thank the Coast Guard and Navy enough for plucking them from the sea and giving them refuge aboard the carrier Enterprise.
A Coast Guard helicopter from Elizabeth City, N.C., plus two C-130 Hercules aircraft, started searching for the boat Wednesday morning after receiving a radio distress call sent from about 350 miles east of Cape Hatteras.
The Enterprise was diverted toward the Atlantic coast to act as a landing and refueling way station for the helicopter, which has a range of about 300 miles.
Four of the crewmen were taken by helicopter to Elizabeth City on Wednesday evening. The other three, suffering cuts and hypothermia, remained aboard until Thursday.
``We feel great right now,'' said Rubenzaho on Thursday afternoon after arriving by helicopter at the Norfolk Naval Air Station.
``Listen, if you got the treatment we got on the Enterprise you'd feel great, too.''
Rubenzaho and his crew of six others were on their way to Bermuda from Long Island, N.Y., when they ran into a severe storm late Tuesday night.
``We expected winds of about 30 knots, gusting to 40 knots,'' he said. ``What we got were winds of 40 knots gusting to 50.''
When he went off watch about 9 p.m. Tuesday, the winds were steady at 35 knots, with gusts to 42.
``We shortened sail and put up the storm jib, but the seas just kept building and building and building,'' he said.
``It was much greater than anything we expected.''
The sailboat, a fiberglass ketch rig, was taking tremendous water across the bow, the beam and the stern at various times, said Rubenzaho.
``It was built in 1982, and we put a lot of work on it. Obviously, it needs more yet. The hatches were flexing pretty good. The bow was (creaking).''
Water began coming into the boat from several areas, he said.
``You make a decision and you stand by it,'' he said. ``You don't like to admit defeat, but it was the only prudent decision that could be made. We had some pretty seasick sailors.''
The Coast Guard helicopter hoisted six of the men, and a Navy helicopter from the Enterprise hoisted the seventh, he said.
Once aboard the Enterprise, the men were given dry clothes, food and medical checks. One of the men required sutures in his hand for a bad cut and another was dehydrated.
``The only reason they kept me overnight is because I'm old,'' said Rubenzaho.
Now that the ordeal is over, he plans to hire a plane out of Bermuda to search for his boat. Hopefully, its emergency locater beacon is operating.
After his first helicopter ride and first ride on an aircraft carrier, Rubenzaho's spirits were lifted a bit.
``If I knew it was going to be so much fun, I would have wrecked the boat sooner,'' he said.
``I cannot express the gratitude we have for the Coast Guard, from the young men who dragged us up, to the carrier Enterprise. It gives you hope again that the future is not so bleak.''
KEYWORDS: U.S. COAST GUARD RESCUE AT SEA by CNB